If you’re a Mass Effect 3 fan and aching for some word savin’-reaper butt kicking, well, you still have a few months to go for that. However, in preparation for that fateful day, have a feat first on the demo of Kingdoms of Amalur. Why you ask? Well for one, if you played the demo of Kingdoms of Amalur (which is out now) or Mass Effect 3, you’d get exclusive in-game items for both games.

Yes that’s right, if you played the Kingdoms of Amalur demo (Xbox Live, Origin, Steam and PSN) you’d get:

• Exclusive Todd McFarlane-designed Reckoner Knight Armor for Mass Effect 3 (install the demo)
• The Powerful Chakram Launcher for Mass Effect 3 (complete the demo)

Purchase Kingdoms of Amalur and:

• N7-inspired Shepard’s Battle Armor for use in Reckoning (redeemed via EA Online Pass)

In the meantime, if you played the Mass Effect 3 Demo you’d get:

• Omniblade Daggers for use in Reckoning (redeemed in-game)

Actually, I wouldn’t have stumbled across this bit of news if it weren’t for the ever vigilant people at Datablitz Cubao for informing me of this bit of news. Thanks guys!

Actually the PS Vita is already on Datablitz shelves since December 29 last year. Yes that’s right! The latest portable device from Sony has finally reached our shores however the price itself may be a bit heavy. Since Datablitz is only selling the Value Pack, which costs around PHP 23,500 if you’re getting the 3G version and PHP 20,950 for the wi-fi only version.

Here’s the rundown of what the value pack contains:

• USB cable
• AC Adaptor
• Manual
• 4GB Memory Card
• Golden Abyss Pack/Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 Chi + Eng
• PS Acc Pack:
  • Protective Film
  • Cleaning Cloth
  • Card Case
  • Wrist Strap

As for the games aside from the value pack I was informed that the currently available are:

• Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
• Uncharted: Golden Abyss
• Hot Shots Golf
• Blazblue Continuum Shift II Extend

If you are looking for the US ver. of the PS vita I suggest you’d wait till February since that’s the official release month for the US ver. of the Vita. What Datablitz is selling is the asia version of the unit. I asked about the date when Datablitz would be selling just the unit but they can’t give me a specific date.

In terms of the memory sticks, Datablitz will be selling 4, 16 and 32GB variants.

The first chapter of games usually introduce the basic functions to the player: how to open inventory, use an item, talk to people, and a lot of “Professor X wants to see you in his office.” In the case of Dead Space 2, your first instruction goes along the lines of:

“RUN.”

I haven’t played a game that made me dive in headfirst into the thick of survival horror quite as effectively as Dead Space 2 did.

There’s no easing you in, no hand to hold you or a voiceover that calmly tells you what to do. Oh no, sir, right in the beginning of the game Isaac is in a strait jacket, surrounded by necromorphs and running for his life. His RIG is not just red, it’s blinking next to nothing.

As a player, countless experiences from other games has made me expect some kind of divine intervention to just suddenly cut me loose from my bondage. It did come but not in the way that I expected it. I won’t spoil it for you.

What I like about Dead Space 2 is that it’s not embarrassed to freak you out with ways that are sometimes bordering on cliché: the sudden bump in the upper floor, the shadows at the end of the hallway, the gurgling sound in the vents.

This in-your-face horror, this unapologetic stab of horror tricks, dark corridors, blood on the walls, candles and tinkling nursery music, reminds us of what actually works in survival horror games and why game developers should never forget that.

Gameplay

I would have to go out on a limb here and say 3rd person shooters, particularly Dead Space 2, is played best on the PS3.

Dead Space 2 has several notable space exploration levels where it’s just so much easier to look up and down and around with a controller. With the times that Isaac had to float around in zero-g and push canisters and realign solar panels in space, the controller just makes everything so much easier.

However, I still had my idiot moments. Yep, I used stasis on a grip symbol, more times than I’m comfortable to admit. And yes, I ALT-fire when I thought I was holding a Plasma Cutter only to find out that I just wasted a Line Gun mine. Oh, and ammo is scarce in this game.

The controls take some getting used to but when you do get used to it you become quicker and more efficient. After playing it on the PS3, I tried playing it on the PC and I just felt a bit too detached from the whole experience.

You have to do a lot of sharp turns and a lot of quick movements as Necromorphs have this sweet habit of creeping up behind you. And for me, a controller handles those situations particularly better than a mouse and keyboard. That’s just me though.

In addition, playing this on a huge HDTV with its awesome sound effects just melted my face off.

Weapons

One of the notable features of Dead Space 2 is the wide variety of new weapons. On my first playthrough there just wasn’t enough credits lying around to experiment on all the weapons. So I stuck with my favorites: Line Gun and Plasma Cutter. It was immensely satisfying to pull out the Ripper when I get swarmed by a mob of necros though. Almost too satisfying.

It’s interesting how there is no standard way of dealing with necromorphs. Though stasis and the plasma cutter still work like a charm, the combination of stasis, kinesis + impalement and the whole plethora of weapons give you a lot of variety to tink around with.

Isaac doesn’t feel like a helpless, scared and confused protagonist. There were memorable moments wherein I actually breathed out a sigh of relief and told Isaac: “Well, thank god you’re an Engineer huh, Isaac?”

This is pertaining to moments when systems had to be rerouted, machines had to be fixed and computers had to be shut down.

I felt smart. I felt badass. Especially when Isaac goes: Ellie, the path is blocked. Hold tight, I’ll make it work. Just like that. Fuck yeah. YOU KNOW IT.

Story

It wasn’t difficult empathizing with Isaac and his guilt surrounding Nicole’s death. They did a pretty good job inserting her scene in just the right moments. I found myself liking Isaac. He had this gigantic inner demon but he manages to put on a brave face in front of the other characters.

Speaking of other characters, I absolutely loved Ellie. I usually don’t like how female characters are presented in a survival horror game (even the ones that kick ass) but Ellie was fleshed out very nicely. She’s quite the looker too.

However, the story posed a couple of problems for me. While Isaac’s struggle with Nicole’s memories are clear and haunting, it practically sidetracked me from the main objective. All I knew is that the Marker had to be destroyed but the gravity of the situation failed to reel me in. For me everything was just “things I have to do because the waypoint says so”

It would have been better if I actually felt the threat of the Marker or at least seen things in a much grander scale. Truth be told, I was more scared of Nicole than I am of what the Marker could do.

Last Thoughts

Dead Space 2 is an awesome game. I’m even going as far as saying it’s the best survival horror game in years. The variety of monsters you have to contend with plus the variety of weapons you can use to take them all down gives you all the action your trigger finger could ever hope for. Put this in an insanely creepy setting and you’ve got yourself a winner.

Everything just comes together in the game: the graphics, the sound, the gameplay, the characters. As awesome as Dead Space 2 turned out to be, I would hate to be the one who would think of how to follow it up. So I suggest you go over to Datablitz right now (yes RIGHT NOW) and buy the game. Support the industry and help developers make more survival horror games of this brilliant standard. Because Dead Space 2 is an insanely tough act to follow.

Image credits:

IGN Dead Space 2 Guide

Dead Space Wikia

Game Courtesy of:

Yesterday, Sunday, January 30, 2011. EA (in partnership with Datablitz) hosted a launch and freeplay event at the SM North Edsa Annex Cyberzone. It was the official launch of the sequel to EA’s Space-themed survival horror game, Dead Space 2. People who were there were able to test out the game on the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC as they ventured back into Isaac Clarke’s world.

People who were able to get to the event were also given a chance to enjoy other EA titles such as NBA Jam on the Wii and Need for Speed Hot Pursuit.

For those who have no idea what Dead Space 2 is, here’s the wiki intro about it:

Dead Space 2 is a survival horror third-person shooter video game developed by Visceral Games and published by Electronic Arts for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows.^[8] It is the sequel to Dead Space. Unlike its predecessor, Dead Space 2 has a multiplayer mode.^[9] A Collector’s Edition is available for all three platforms, but the PlayStation 3 version will include Dead Space: Extraction as a PlayStation Move compatible title.^[10]

Here are the pictures I was able to take during the event:

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Christmas is coming early for World of Warcraft players as the latest expansion, Cataclysm is set to be released this coming December 7, Tuesday. True to Blizzard tradition, there will be special edition box set of Cataclysm with these included:

• Art of the Cataclysm Art Book – Featuring 176 pages of never-before-seen images from the archives of the Blizzard Entertainment Cinematics Department and the World of Warcraft development team, as well as progressive visuals from multiple stages of development.
• Exclusive In-Game Pet – He may not be a breaker of worlds just yet, but Lil’ Deathwing will still proudly accompany heroes on their struggle to save Azeroth from his much, much larger counterpart.
• Behind-the-Scenes DVD – Includes over an hour of developer interviews and commentaries, as well as a special Warcraft retrospective examining the rich gaming history of the Warcraft universe.
• Game Soundtrack – Featuring 10 epic new tracks from Cataclysm, and exclusive bonus tracks.
• Special-Edition Mouse Pad – Depicting Deathwing menacing the ravaged continents of Azeroth.
• World of Warcraft Trading Card Game cards – Includes a 60-card starter deck from the Wrathgate series, two extended-art cards, and two Collector’s Edition-exclusive hero cards, marking the first appearance of goblin and worgen heroes in the TCG.

While I was doing this post I just got out of the phone from people at Datablitz. They are not sure if we here in the Philippines will be following the actual date or if we will be selling the special edition box set. They haven’t set the price yet for both the expansion and the special edition.

So till it comes all we have is this video to tide us over:

In celebration of their newest DLC, The Sacrifice, Valve is now on a 66% sale for both L4D and L4D2! Of course the offer is only limited to steam so don’t go hopping to the nearest store, say Datablitz, Gamestop or whatever. This is solely for the steam and steam alone. So fans of the game who would want their legit copies- you can now ask for people who have paypal or have own way of paying at steam to get you a copy and you can just shell out 300+ php eh? *wink wink* (it’s an estimate based on the exchange rate of USD to PHP)

Here’s the breakdown of the discounted prices of the two games and the bundles over at steam:

For L4D:

For L4D2:

aaaannnddd… for the Pack

I was kinda miffed when I saw the discount– I just bought L4D2 which was already priced at $19,99 oh well– makes me want to get L4D too for myself and my sis haha!

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